Darkness of the Past
by Erin Giles
Summary: Wesley gets a blast from the past, which almost causes the gang to lose him. R&R plz! COMPLETE
1. Family

TITLE: Darkness of the Past  
  
AUTHOR: Erin Giles  
  
RATING: PG-13 some of the later scenes  
  
SPOLIER WARNING: None really.  
  
DISCLAIMER: Sadly, everything belongs to Joss Whedon (God) The Wb, Mutant enemy.yada yada yada.  
  
SUMMARY: We finally find out what happens to Wesley when he was a child. Well we find out what I think happened to Wesley as a child.  
  
NOTES: Set in the middle of season two about a week after Wesley calls home.  
  
Dedicated to my new beta Ria  
  
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Chapter 1 ~ Family  
  
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"Who are these voices in my head, I can't go on like this, living like the dead, I haven't slept so long, feeling sad I dread, I'm talking to myself."  
  
"All Messed Up" Sum 41  
  
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Wesley's eyelids dropped heavily in the dimly lit office. No one had been in today, there was no reason to be, but Wesley was here all the same.  
  
He knew that if he went home he would be faced with an empty flat. Cold blue walls as cold as he felt inside. Books that were as boring as him. His past in boxes out of sight. His present a fading picture on the windowsill. His future the closet, locked and unreachable without the key.  
  
"Please father, no."  
  
He shuddered as he closed the book he had been reading and pulled himself to his feet, running a hand across his five o'clock shadow that was now nearing more of a five-day shadow. He rubbed the back of his neck as he turned the light out in the office, leaving it. He grabbed his coat and proceeded to put it on. He paused at the counter, about to turn all the lights out. Suddenly reconsidering, he thought to himself, he could sleep on his desk, no one would mind. No one would notice. The sun had just set, but there hadn't been anything on the streets for a long time.  
  
What would it matter if he had not gone home for nearly a week now? Ever since his phone call to England to wish his father a happy birthday he had not been home.  
  
He didn't care to go back and find the mouldy half-eaten sandwich.  
  
The dishes unwashed in the sink.  
  
The dust collecting on the open book.  
  
"A young man's dwelling place is what reflects him most. His appearance tells everything about him. A well kept house is a sign of a well kept man that will one day have a good wife to come home to who will look after him. You remember that son."  
  
"I will sir." Wesley said to the person in his head. There was no one in the Hyperion to hear him.  
  
"You will what son?" Wesley looked up as the doors swung closed behind a smartly dressed man, wearing a suit in pristine condition even though he had spent a good nine hours on a plane from London. Wesley's eyes widened in horror,  
  
"Father?"  
  
"The people at your apartment said that I might find you here, very rude about it though. No manners or respect for their elders. And what is all this about you being in a hotel. I thought that you were supposed to be a detective agency. I would say there is something fishy about this." Wesley's father took a couple of steps into the hotel and down the stairs,  
  
"Your mother did not want to come. She does not care much for flying." Wesley continued to stare at the man, thoughts whizzing through his head.  
  
"W - why are you here?" the man's eyes glinted with venom as he moved towards his son. He hit him across the head. Hard.  
  
"Forgotten our manners have we? Predictable." He frowned looking at Wesley, who was holding his head,  
  
"Spending too much time with your American friends and not enough time in your father's company. Still, we will see to that soon. I plan to spend some time with you. After your call last week I thought that it would be good to see you in action. In your new roll." He said a sarcastic tone to his voice. Something about his voice said he didn't believe what Wesley had said about being in charge,  
  
"Sir I did . . . didn't know yyyyou were coming, I . . ."  
  
"Oh do stop bumbling about like an idiot Wesley. Remember to pronounce your T's as well. And dear me it is just too common for you to shorten your words such as 'can't' and 'didn't'. Did your mother and I not teach you anything?"  
  
"Sorry Sir." Wesley eyes lowered away from the older man's and his hand moved away from his stinging check.  
  
"Perhaps I can take you out for breakfast and we can talk over why you are visiting?" he asked, looking at his father's feet,  
  
"No thank you. I do not wish to eat the gruel that the American's use as a poor excuse for food." Wesley swallowed nervously.  
  
"Perhaps we can eat at your apartment? That is assuming that you have food in your apartment. The people there said they had not seen you in a week." Wesley swallowed again, not saying anything.  
  
"What is the matter boy? Cat got your tongue?" Wesley's father's hand came up and struck the man across the head again,  
  
"Speak boy." Wesley still felt like the little boy cowering away from his father,  
  
"Speak!" the man bellowed, hitting him again, sending his glassing skidding across the floor. Wesley moved after them, but soon realized his mistake as his father came to stand in front of him.  
  
"Don't you move when I'm trying to talk to you." Wesley knew his father was angry now. He was speaking colloquially, his accent slipping. He struck another blow to Wesley's head that would have knocked him off his feet if he had been the boy he once was. It sent Wesley staggering, moving backwards, away from him,  
  
"Y . . . esss sir." Wesley mumbled,  
  
"What was that?" the man said moving after him, hitting him again, making Wesley's head spin,  
  
"Speak up boy."  
  
"Yes sir." Wesley said, letting his pained eyes meet his father's angry ones.  
  
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Angel rolled out of bed, pulling his trousers on as he did so. He could hear the commotion downstairs, the shouting of a man, yet he did not know who it was. There was not anyone there to shout at either. He pulled yesterday's shirt off a chair and took off out his room. He started heading down the corridor and started to sprint. He reached the top of the stairs, seeing Wesley crouching on the floor.  
  
"Wesley?" he said running down the stairs, only to bump into a man dressed in a smart suit.  
  
"Ah, you must be the infamous Angel?" the man held out his hand to him. Angel took it frowning, as he continued to watch Wesley who was replacing his glasses, not meeting his eyes. He turned back to the suited man,  
  
"And you are?"  
  
"Mr. William Wyndham Price. Wesley's father." He said with a fake smile on his face.  
  
Angel continued to shake his hand before he pulled it away suddenly remembering what he had heard, turning back to Wesley,  
  
"I heard shouting." The older man stepped forward, towards Wesley,  
  
"Just a little misunderstanding." He said ruffling Wesley's hair. Wesley flinched,  
  
"Is that not right son?"  
  
"Yes sir." Wesley said, looking rather dejected.  
  
Angel was not convinced. Maybe it was something about Wesley's appearance, but then he had been like that all week. Or maybe it was the now purpling area of Wesley's jaw, but he couldn't question Wesley now.  
  
"Well son. How about we go for that food you suggested. Nice to meet you Angel, I'm sure we will cross paths in the next few weeks." Wesley followed like a tamed dog, stopping at Angel for a moment.  
  
"Call me if anything comes up." He said before moving after his father. Angel watched them leave before continuing to button up his shirt. Something was not right. 


	2. Didn't expect to be alone

Chapter 2 ~ Didn't expect to be alone  
  
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"Are you drowning or waving, just want you to save me, shall we try to get along . . ."  
  
"Out of this World" Bush  
  
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"Well I think it's good," Cordelia Chase said as she sat at the desk in the Hyperion watching Angel standing in front of it,  
  
"Wesley is getting out. Seeing his family. Having a life. Unlike some other's who will remain nameless." She said looking at Angel, before looking away from him, and suddenly thinking of including herself in that equation,  
  
"Plus it's been quiet lately, so it's not like we need him."  
  
"Cordy that's not the point. There was something odd about his father."  
  
"Well yeah! He's Wesley's dad." Angel looked at her and she held her hands up in the air, to prove that she was joking,  
  
"Look. Angel. I'm not doubting your vampire senses or anything, but I think your seeing evil when there isn't any." She said looking at him seriously,  
  
"But Wes seemed different. Like he was scared of the man somehow." Cordelia sighed standing up off the stool she was seated on,  
  
"Angel. We don't know what happened between Wesley and his father and also I don't think it's really our business. You can't fight Wesley's battles for him. He has to do that for himself." She paused looking at Angel, thinking for a minute,  
  
"Unless of course it's some big demon that's making Wesley sushi." She looked back at him again, and smiled slightly before continuing,  
  
"My point is that Wes has to sort this out with his dad by himself. And unless his dad turns out to be some big green scaly thing that wants to take over the world then it isn't our business, unless Wes makes it our business." She shrugged her shoulders as Angel continued to look at her, before she went back round behind the desk,  
  
"I'm just saying. He may be a demon but he's not the green scaly kind." She said slipping onto the stool again,  
  
"What's not the green scaly kind? 'Cause hell I could kill anything. Even if it has slime." Charles Gunn said by way of greeting as he came down the stairs his cat boots echoing on them,  
  
"Not the kind you can slay." Cordelia said watching him,  
  
"Not even a little maiming?" he asked hopeful,  
  
"Wesley's father's here." Angel said as if that would explain the conversation,  
  
"And he's the demon? English's dad is the demon? Man, demon's really don't like them watcher's do they."  
  
"No he's not the demon." Cordelia said standing up again,  
  
"It's just Angel's paranoid that everything is a demon now. And also, no demon." She went to her desk, trying to tidy imaginary papers,  
  
"No demons. No cases. Nothing." She looked over at Angel,  
  
"Maybe they all died, and now we can all live happily ever after? With no money and no jobs and no way of making a living." She sighed,  
  
"Ever -" she stopped mid-sentence as a blinding vision hit her,  
  
"Speak for yourself." Gunn said, not looking at her,  
  
"I still got -" Cordelia's scream tore Gunn away from his thoughts. Angel raced by him going to Cordelia who was on the floor. Gunn followed after as she wriggled in Angel's arms,  
  
"They're in a warehouse - Vampires - They've got people - Lots - They're organ - organised - They have a leader -" Cordelia stopped having the vision and finally opened her eyes,  
  
"It's Wesley's dad."  
  
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Wesley shoved the key into the lock and turned it unwillingly. He pushed open the door before he lifted his father's suitcase at his feet and dragged it inside the apartment,  
  
"Come in," he said watching as his father followed after him. Wesley then lugged the suitcase down the hall and into his own room. Wesley's father turned up his nose in disgust at the apartment,  
  
"As I expected." He said under his breath as Wesley came back down the hall. He picked up the plate off the sofa and the empty mugs and wine glasses from the coffee table. He went into the kitchen to dump them in the sink and found that was already full. Instead he dumped them on the work surface, deciding to come back to them later. He went back into the living room and pulled the few books from the couch and coffee table,  
  
"Make yourself at home." He said placing the books on his desk and opening the window to clear the room of the musty smell. The smell and noise of the traffic wafted in the window, and Wesley's father frowned again,  
  
"I doubt I will be doing that any time soon." Wesley's father said before undoing his jacket buttons. Wesley continued to tidy, scared that if he stopped he would have to face the degrading eyes of his father. He picked up his laptop from the floor, placing it on his desk before collecting another few plates,  
  
"Wesley!" his father said sharply as Wesley entered the kitchen again. He stopped, placing the plates on the work surface,  
  
"Yes father?" he asked, turning nervously back into the living room. He stepped forward a couple of steps,  
  
"We need to talk." He said his face not changing,  
  
"What about?" Wesley asked, not moving,  
  
"About how you are not worth anything. You were never worth anything. I thought that you would come to something; make me proud when you joined the watcher's council. I was wrong." Wesley's father moved towards him menacingly, but Wesley held his ground,  
  
"I thought that you had something going for you when you joined this band of demon hunters. But you joined forces with Angelus?" Wesley's father struck out at him with such force that Wesley stumbled backwards into the wall. His father was over sixty, he shouldn't be able to hit that hard. Wesley watched his father for a moment, suddenly having the courage to stand up to him,  
  
"It's Angel and he's good. He has a soul."  
  
"A soul?" Wesley's father laughed at him, "I do not think that makes him any less the blood sucking fiend he is."  
  
"He's fighting for redemption now," Wesley said leaning off the wall, "I've done more good with Angel than I've ever done with the council." Wesley's father's eyes narrowed and he lashed out again, causing Wesley to stumble and fall, hitting his head against the fridge. He slouched down beside it, his head spinning,  
  
"All those years under the stairs in the cupboard. Would you like to go back there son? Back to the dark? I can still do that you know." He grabbed Wesley by the scruff of his neck, dragging him to the cupboard in Wesley's apartment and opening the door. He readied himself to throw Wesley in it, but Wesley was already scrabbling to his feet,  
  
"No sir. Please." Wesley tried to wriggle away the horrors of his childhood coming back to him. He scrambled up the wall, away from his father,  
  
"You never were the son I wanted. But you have a second chance now Wesley." Wesley looked up at his father, his face turned into the face of everything he had ever fought against. Wesley's eyes widened as he watched the grotesque face of the demon that had taken his father. He turned to run for the door but his father had him by the arm. But he couldn't lash out at his father, even now. He soon found himself being twisted round, his back slamming hard on the coffee table, his head following moments later. His head swam for a moment as his father's face returned to normal before he felt as though he had been locked in the black of the cupboard under the stairs again. 


	3. I can never die

Chapter 3 ~ I can never die  
  
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"Yeah if I make it I'd be amazed, just to find tomorrow."  
  
"Amazed" The Offspring  
  
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Cordelia took another sip of the water Angel had given her, watching Gunn and Angel load up.  
  
"Ready to go man?" Gunn said, tucking a stake in his coat pocket. Angel nodded,  
  
"Cordelia stay here. Watch the phones."  
  
"Hey I've been watching those phone for the past week and they ain't going anywhere." Cordelia said getting to her feet and grabbing her coat,  
  
"I'm coming with you!" Angel looked as though he was going to argue but Cordelia was there first,  
  
"No arguments pal! He's my friend too, and I don't want him dead!" Angel looked at Gunn for some help but he just shrugged,  
  
"Your call man."  
  
"It ain't his call buddy! I get the visions I call the shots! And I say I'm coming with you two whether you like it or not." Cordelia said moving menacingly towards Gunn before marching past them both towards the door. Angel and Gunn both stood watching her go, a puzzled look on their faces.  
  
"Plus, I have the car keys." She said dangling them in view of Angel and Gunn, before beating a hasty retreat out the hotel, a grin on her face.  
  
"Cordelia, maybe you should let me drive." Angel said moving after her,  
  
"Hey, they ain't the keys to my girl are they?" Gunn said searching his person before following both Cordelia and Angel out of the hotel.  
  
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Lights flashed on and off overhead.  
  
Changing colours.  
  
Pulsating.  
  
"Yeah I am the dark.  
  
Hound of hell you cry.  
  
Devil on your back.  
  
I can never die."  
  
The music blared over the speakers.  
  
Vampires reigned supreme.  
  
Wesley felt his body slam to the ground and he let out a small groan, before he brought his eyes into focus. His eyes scrunched up, away from the strobe light as it glared in his face. The music screamed loudly in his head and he thought it would explode. He was grateful when the music stopped abruptly,  
  
"Shut them up."  
  
Wesley rolled himself on to his side, pulling himself to his hands and knees. Another ear piercing scream shot through Wesley like a bullet, before it disappeared in an instant, leaving a horrible silence in its wake.  
  
Wesley could hear footsteps moving closer too him as he tried to pull himself to his feet. Suddenly a foot slammed into the small of Wesley's back and he dropped back face down onto the floor. His head connected with the floor and he thought he would pass out again.  
  
"Get him up."  
  
Wesley was pulled roughly to his feet, and left to stand on his own accord. His knees locked to stop him crumpling in a heap again. The cold, hard face of his father met him,  
  
"Welcome to my world Wesley." Wesley blinked a couple of times, before his eyes started to move round the room. Vampires surrounded him. There must be at least two if not three dozen of them. A large group of people in their late teens, early twenties were huddled in the corner,  
  
"You'll be joining it soon."  
  
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"Yo English?" Gunn called pushing open the door of his apartment with the handle of his axe cautiously. The door had been open already, swinging back and forth in the dented doorframe. Gunn stepped forward into the apartment, looking about as a cold wind passed over him. He noticed the window was open but shrugged it off continuing to look round the flat and the state it was in,  
  
"Wesley?" Angel called, next into the apartment. He took at the shattered coffee table and smelt the air, subtly.  
  
"Wes?" Cordelia called moving passed Angel and heading down the corridor.  
  
"He's not here." Angel said moving back to the door,  
  
"He's been here though." Angel disappeared out the door again,  
  
"Angel man, where yah going?" Gunn called after him, still poking through Wesley's papers.  
  
"Talk to the neighbours." Angel's voice said drifting back down the hall.  
  
"He's not here." Cordy said coming back into the living room,  
  
"Yeah Angel said. You know with the vamp hearing and stuff."  
  
Cordelia looked offended,  
  
"Yeah well I did it the old fashioned way and still reached the same conclusions. So what does that tell you?" She said sitting down on the couch.  
  
"English needs to get himself a cleaner." Gunn said taking one look in the kitchen and coming back out again. Cordelia looked up at him,  
  
"No dumbass! It means that the old fashioned way works just as well." Gunn looked at her and thumbed in the direction of the kitchen,  
  
"Yeah but you should see the state of his kitchen. Makes soup kitchens look clean." Cordelia stood up and went to look in the kitchen,  
  
"Wesley doesn't do messy and yet here I am in his apartment suddenly thinking there might be rats under the fridge." Cordelia said timidly as she started to back away from the fridge. She stopped though as she noticed something dripping from the handle. She reached forward to touch it with her fingers,  
  
"Blood." Angel said for his position behind her. Cordelia jumped and turned to look at him,  
  
"Neighbours said that they heard Wesley come home about a half hour ago and then there was some banging and they've not heard anything since." He said watching Cordelia's concerned face. He moved towards her and touched the blood with his fingers. He sniffed at it and Cordelia turned away, slightly repulsed.  
  
"It's Wesley's."  
  
"Guess we're going to find a party." Gunn said, shouldering his axe as he headed out the door. Angel went to follow, but stopped short of the door. He watched Cordelia still standing, staring at the fridge,  
  
"Cordelia?" Cordelia turned to look at him.  
  
"If you want to -" Cordelia marched towards him,  
  
"You're not getting rid of me that easily." She said leaving the apartment.  
  
Cordelia had seen what the vampires were planning to do with everyone in the club. They were making an army and if Wesley was in amongst that group then that meant that he was going to be part of that army too. It would be bad enough to see him die, but to have him turned - She continued to walk towards the car, purpose in her stride.  
  
They had to get to him before that happened. 


	4. Game Over

Chapter 4  
  
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"You see I'm falling in a vast abyss, clouded by memories of the past."  
  
"Forsaken" David Draiman  
  
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Wesley could do nothing. He was frozen to the spot he stood on, staring into his father's cold blue eyes.  
  
Cold blue eyes as cold as he felt inside.  
  
The demon that had taken his father watched with pleasure, as Wesley stood there dumbfounded as he moved forward, embracing Wesley in what first looked like a hug.  
  
Wesley let his father hug him, felt the breath being crushed out of his lungs and his ribs dig into them, but he still did nothing. He denied the truth that stood before him. His father was not dead, could not be dead.  
  
"It's good to see you Wesley."  
  
It was a game. Another game that his father had concocted. Stay still and he would be fine, he would survive the game. Move and it would be the cupboard again. He hated the cupboard, but he endured it for his own good.  
  
A long moment passed and Wesley thought he would never breath again. Lack of oxygen to the brain would cause him to pass out any moment, but he held on. If he passed out the game would be over and he'd wake up in the cupboard. His father released him at last and he let the oxygen fill his lungs, and even though it hurt to breathe he persisted.  
  
"Are you ready?" his father asked, smiling. His face changed but Wesley did not even flinch. A trick of the light, possibly? Wesley swallowed nervously and nodded.  
  
"Good." His father said, his voice distorted as he moved towards Wesley again. He felt something graze his neck. 'It's all a game, all a game,' he said to himself.  
  
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"Think Cordy. Green sign or pink sign?" Cordelia looked at both signs side- by-side outside nightclubs and shrugged at Angel,  
  
"I don't know I can't - all I can see is frightened faces and hear people screaming." She turned to look into his eyes,  
  
"They're all scared Angel. Including Wesley." She turned back abruptly as she heard a scream,  
  
"Green one." She said in unison with Angel as he jumped out the car. Gunn and Cordelia followed.  
  
"English will be fine. He can handle himself." Gunn said patting Cordelia on the back.  
  
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Wesley felt something pierce his neck,  
  
"All a game." He heard his father echo his own words for a moment before he felt all his blood rushing to the one place. He felt his knees go weak and he wanted to pass out again, but his father held him upright. Something whistled past his ear and he felt his father pull back, a grunt coming from him.  
  
"Game Over." Angel said as he handed the crossbow back to Cordelia who loaded another bolt. He pulled a stake from his pocket,  
  
"Get to Wesley and get the rest out."  
  
Wesley knees gave in and he collapsed onto the floor as a hand went to his neck. His eyes turned up to his father standing over him. He watched as he pulled the crossbow bolt from his shoulder, licking his lips of Wesley's blood. Wesley felt his breathing slowing. His father would never have taken it as far as to kill him, would he? His father knelt beside him, his face shifting back to his human features. He pulled Wesley into a sitting position, treating him as if he were a rag doll,  
  
"Wesley you won't let them kill me will you?" he asked, preying on the last ounce of loyalty Wesley had left. He licked his lips as he watched the blood soaking into Wesley's shirt. His face changed back and he couldn't resist any longer,  
  
"You can make up for all of it now." Wesley's father launched himself at Wesley's neck, sucking the life out of his son.  
  
Cordelia continued to push people towards the exit not caring if they tripped and fell on the way out. They would damage themselves yeah but that wouldn't compare to how dead they would be if they didn't move. She saw a vampire struggling with a girl and she moved towards them, stamping on the vampire's toe with the heel of her shoe,  
  
"She's not your type." She said smiling sweetly before elbowing him in the face and plunging her stake home. The vampire exploded into dust and through it Cordelia could see a vampire feeding on Wesley. She panicked.  
  
This was what she had seen. Wesley was going to die. Either that or live forever and be Lestate's right hand man. She tried to move towards him,  
  
"Wes -" she was cut off as a vampire grabbed her from behind.  
  
Wesley felt his pulse slowing, even as he wrapped his hand around the crossbow bolt. He plunged into the demon's heart with what remaining strength he had left and watched him disintegrate into a thousand particles.  
  
"My father never asked me favours." Wesley collapsed back onto the stone cold floor, screams echoing in his head and the whooshing noise that vampires made when they were dusted. His eyes closed, as the lights seemed to dim but he didn't care. He knew he wouldn't wake up in the cupboard.  
  
Gunn swung his axe at another vampire and its head rolled before exploding into dust. He saw Cordelia being grabbed and he batted another vamp out the way,  
  
"Cordy, duck." Cordelia looked confused at first but did as she was told, the vampire not knowing what had hit him, even after he lost his head. Cordelia didn't even stop to thank Gunn. She left him standing as she ran to Wesley.  
  
"Your Welcome." Gunn called after her before he turned back to what he was doing. He hadn't even seen Wesley go down he was so caught up in fighting vampires. There were only a few left now. Angel had handled most of them pretty well. Suddenly the last handful fled,  
  
"Hey come on." Gunn said running to the door.  
  
"Gunn," Angel called after him, a warning not to follow,  
  
"Chickens." Gunn shouted into the night. He hefted his axe and turned back into the warehouse,  
  
"Just when you're getting' into it they up and leave on yah." He moved towards where Angel and Cordelia were crouched,  
  
"Where's -" he stopped as he saw the pale form of Wesley lying on the floor, Cordelia's hand over his neck trying to stop him from bleeding anymore.  
  
"English?" 


	5. Death comes to us all

Chapter 5  
  
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"Moon hangs around, a blade above my head, reminds me what to do before I'm dead."  
  
"Before I'm Dead" kidneythieves  
  
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"We need help."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Something bit him." Angel set Wesley down on the gurney and cringed, the words feeling all too similar. He remembered saying them a couple of years ago now as he set Buffy down on a gurney in Sunnydale general. But these were different circumstances and it wasn't Angel's fault Wesley was here,  
  
"Was he conscious when you found him?"  
  
"No.Yes." Angel couldn't remember, had be been? Did they mean when his own father sunk his teeth into him or the moment after Wesley had dusted him?  
  
"Was he conscious or not sir?"  
  
"He was."  
  
"Are you sure?" Angel nodded,  
  
"Good. Can you tell me what his name is?"  
  
"Wesley."  
  
"Okay if you'd like to wait outside now sir we'll deal with him." Angel was ushered away as he heard the doctors calling Wesley's name, trying to get some reaction out of him. Wesley didn't respond though. The doors closed in front of Angel's face that brought him out of whatever daydream he was in. Somehow he expected to find Faith in the next bed, but this was a different time, a different place.  
  
"Angel?" he felt someone pulling on his arm, and he tried to pull away from it, looking in through the small window in the ER room,  
  
"Angel."  
  
"What?" he snapped back, turning on Cordelia. He suddenly realized what he had done, seeing the hurt expression on Cordelia's face. He looked away from her, shaking his head,  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"They'll look after him. He'll be fine." She said, pulling him away to sit down on one of the chairs in the waiting room,  
  
"Could one of you fill in some forms please?" a nurse said behind Cordelia. She looked at Angel, his head bowed to the floor. Her eyes turned on Gunn, who was leaning against one of the soda machines,  
  
"I will." Cordelia said turning to follow the nurse. A nervous glance at the ER room sent Cordelia's emotions racing. She had seen it in her vision what she had seen in the club. He was going to die. Wesley wasn't going to make it through the night, and it was all her fault. If only she had paid enough attention to remember which colored sign it was,  
  
'God Cor, you're so thick sometimes.' She thought as she wrote down Wesley's date of birth. She expected the next question to be date of death, and she knew the answer. She shook her head of negative thoughts as she tried to hold back tears,  
  
'Next of kin.'  
  
"Oh God -"  
  
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"That's the third neck trauma victim tonight -"  
  
"I'm not losing another one -"  
  
"Let's get a line in -"  
  
"Pupil's are fixed and dilating -"  
  
"Stats are dropping -"  
  
"He's lost too much blood -"  
  
"I told you I'm not losing another one!"  
  
"No pulse -"  
  
"Start CPR."  
  
"Sir, it's too late."  
  
There was a long pause where nothing but the monotonous beep of the machines filled the room,  
  
"Call it." The doctor pulled his gloves up, the latex slapping against his skin as he pulled the plastic pinny from him, dumping the two in the bin by the door,  
  
"Time of death. 5.20am."  
  
"Anybody with him?"  
  
"A man and a woman as far as I know."  
  
"I'll tell them."  
  
The doctor left the ER room, going into the waiting room, looking for the people who had come in with the man. He caught sight of the dark haired woman and moved towards her,  
  
"Excuse me did you come in with Simon Caldwell?" Cordelia looked up at the doctor, shaking her head,  
  
"Is there any news on Wesley?" she said, jumping to her feet,  
  
"I'm sorry I don't know. I'm sure someone will be out soon." The doctor smiled at her sympathetically and if it had been any other situation Cordelia would be chatting up the handsome young doctor,  
  
"Thanks." She said meekly, sitting back down beside Angel again. She looked up at the clock on the wall. She watched it for a long moment as if it were deceiving her. They couldn't have been here that long,  
  
"Angel you should be getting back to the hotel. The sun'll be coming up soon." Angel glanced up at the clock on the wall before looking at Cordelia,  
  
"I'll call if there's any news." Cordelia looked back nervously at Gunn who was now stood by the front door, breathing in the cool night air,  
  
"I'll get Gunn to bring me back, and also someone needs to check on those phones." She knew they wouldn't have had any calls, but she had to get Angel to go home. She wasn't going to lose another friend the damnation of the vampire curse.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"Miss. Chase?" Cordelia curled her feet from under her and removed her head from Gunn's shoulder as a doctor looked down at her. She ran a hand through her unruly hair,  
  
"You both came in with Mr. Pryce, am I correct?" He asked as he sat down on the other side of Cordelia. Cordelia nodded,  
  
"Is there any news on him?"  
  
"We've got him stabilised but he's still unconscious. We've moved him up to the ward if you'd like to see him." She nodded as she pulled herself to her feet. Cordelia looked up at the clock. It had been an hour since she'd managed to persuade Angel into going home.  
  
Gunn jumped to his feet beside her, anxious to see if Wesley was all right. The two had grown quite close over the past few months since Angel had left them and come back. He had been too busy fighting vampires to even notice what had happened to Wes. Memories of Alana passed through his mind and he shuddered. He didn't think he could kill someone he cared about again, not after Alana,  
  
"I'll take you to his room." 


	6. No rest for the Hero's

Chapter 6  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"I'm so high I can hear heaven, no but heave don't hear me, and they say that a hero can save us, I'm not going to stand here and wait."  
  
"Hero" Chad Kroeger feat. Josey Scott  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"Angel cakes! It's about time! Thought I was going to be waiting for a Seabreeze all night." Lorne said standing up from the sofa, taking his jacket from the back of it,  
  
"Thought I'd find one of your friendly staff here to help me or point me in the right direction of you sweet cheeks, but it seems those little stud muffins have scampered off to have some fun on the town." He put his jacket on moving towards Angel,  
  
"So how about it? Glass of O positive on me and I can tell you the latest hot gossip on the streets." He stopped talking for a couple of seconds to let Angel reply, buttoning up his jacket. When there was no reply Lorne looked up confused,  
  
"Angel?" Lorne suddenly noticed that the sun was shinning in the garden,  
  
"Well maybe we're a little late for a Seabreeze, but we could go ahead and start early for today." Lorne gave a nervous chuckle, realising that Angel really wasn't paying attention to him,  
  
"Or we could stay here and perfect that brooding look, not that you need to." He paused, glaring at Angel,  
  
"Angel!" Lorne demanded, getting impatient. Angel looked up from the spot in the middle of the lobby he had been staring at and looked at Lorne curiously as if he had suddenly appeared out of no where,  
  
"Lorne. Hi." he said, trying to look as though he had heard Lorne's every single word.  
  
"You didn't up and leave them again did you Angel cakes?" Lorne asked suspiciously, suddenly becoming concerned,  
  
"No." he said moving to put the crossbow and stakes away,  
  
"No," he repeated, "Everything's fine."  
  
"Sweetie pie I don't need you to sing to see that everything is not fine." He said, deciding to unbutton his jacket again, realizing he wasn't going to get that Seabreeze anytime soon,  
  
"Now come on. Tell Uncle Lorne what's up." He said seating himself back on the sofa and patting the empty space beside him. Angel looked back at him from where he was beside the weapons cabinet,  
  
"Alright then, maybe not the best approach. And if looks could kill you better make my Seabreeze a double."  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Cordelia shifted in the chair for the umpteenth time, looking towards the door again, waiting for Gunn to return. It was so quiet in the room, even with the beeping of the machines, people walking down the corridor, conversations and shouting to other nurses and doctors. It was just too quiet. She could hear every breath that Wesley took and she was at least grateful for that. The doctor had told her that the next few hours were the most crucial and they would only know how much damage had been done when he became conscious again. Cordelia knew they were looking at brain damage through lack of blood to the brain for so long, but it made her queasy just thinking about it so she didn't.  
  
She placed her hand on top of Wesley's, watching it rather than the drips that were keeping him hydrated and replacing the pints of blood he had lost. It felt cold to the touch, almost as cold as Angel's even though she found it hot in the room,  
  
"Come on Wes." She said her eyes casting to his closed eyelids that were almost translucent, the dark hollows of them standing out against his pale face. She sighed, but stopped, catching her breath. His eyelids flickered; she swore she saw his eyelids flicker. Maybe it was just a trick of the light she thought, remembering to breath again. She squeezed his hand gently,  
  
"Wes?" she whispered as she heard the door open behind her,  
  
"They were all outta de-caf." Gunn said placing one cup on the table beside her before turning back to close the door. Cordelia didn't look back at him or even thank him. She was staring at Wesley too intently. She watched as his eyes flickered again.  
  
"Cordy, I brought you -" Gunn trailed off as he caught Wesley's eyes flicker too. He moved round the other side of the bed,  
  
"You saw that right?" he asked her sitting down in the other chair. Cordelia nodded nervously,  
  
"Wesley? Can you hear me?" she watched his eyes flicker again before they opened fully, staring up at her like a frightened child,  
  
"Cordelia?" he rasped out, frowning when he realised it was painful. A smile formed on her lips as she watched him,  
  
"You know who I am." She said happily. Wesley frowned at her, confused slightly,  
  
"How you feeling man?" Gunn said beside from the other side of him, which caused him to turn and look,  
  
"Gunn." He said a trace of smile forming on his lips before he tried to nod,  
  
"Tired." He said slowly, dragging the word out as if it were too much of an effort,  
  
"We'll leave you to rest." Cordelia said standing up from her seat and motioning Gunn to do the same. She didn't want to leave him but he looked awful and she knew time was a healer,  
  
"Take care of your self English." Gunn said punching his hand slightly,  
  
"We'll be back later." Cordelia said smiling, picking up her cup of coffee and leaving the room after Gunn.  
  
Wesley opened his mouth to protest, but he was too slow. He didn't want to be alone. He would give anything not to be left alone at the moment. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to block out everything around him.  
  
'He would be fine here. No one could touch him. No one at all.'  
  
The muscles around his eyes relaxed as he drifted into sleep and he was no longer alone. Screaming, deafening in his head.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Cordelia yawned loudly as her feet fell clumsily on the steps into the lobby of the Hyperion. Gunn had offered to take her straight back to her apartment but she had insisted on dropping by the hotel first. She sunk onto the couch as Gunn closed the door to the Hyperion,  
  
"How's Wesley?" Angel said coming out of Wesley's office followed by Lorne,  
  
"Dah ochturs aide heh ey fine." Cordelia said still yawning,  
  
"They said what now peach pie?" Lorne said leaning against the counter. Cordelia rubbed her tired eyes before she spoke again,  
  
"They said he'd be fine. They want to keep him till they've finished replacing all the blood he's lost. But they -" she started to yawn again and Gunn took over the explanation,  
  
"They said we could pick him up this afternoon. Just let him get rest for a few days and not let him come back to work too soon."  
  
"Good." Angel said nodding,  
  
"You should both go home and get some rest too." He said watching Cordelia yawn for the fifth time since entering the hotel. Cordelia nodded tiredly, pulling herself to her feet again,  
  
"Bed. Home this way." Cordelia said almost Neanderthal like, tugging at Gunn's arm as she stumbled up the stairs again.  
  
"Uh Angel buluba aren't we forgetting my little - uh - problem, with the - uh - yah know." Cordelia stopped stamping her foot on the top step and turning,  
  
"What is it with the underworld!" she said huffing,  
  
"Days of nothing and then suddenly all at once it decides it's going to have a party." She slammed her feet on the steps coming back down,  
  
"God they're so inconsiderate." She said heading back to the couch and sitting down again. Gunn watched Cordelia nervously for a moment as if she would explode any second before he looked back at Angel,  
  
"So what's up?" Angel turned on Lorne, who just held his hands up in the air,  
  
"Sorry Angel cakes but I don't think even a champion like you is going to get this done by himself and time's running out." 


	7. Stuck in the Past

Chapter 7 ~ Stuck in the Past  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"Some friends become enemies, some friends become your family, make the best with what you're given. This ain't dying. This is living!"  
  
"Movin' On" Good Charlotte  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"Don't they have guys who can do this sorta thing?"  
  
"Yes but they cost money peaches." Lorne said as he directed Gunn and Angel through the door with the piano. Cordelia stifled a yawn as she sat slouched on a stool at the bar,  
  
"Lorne as much as we don't like helping you at every possible moment can't this wait?"  
  
"Sorry cherry pie but it's needed for tonight and I don't think that it would last long in that alley. Left a bit - No! Left you big meringue." Gunn dropped the piano down and Angel let go too. It made a dull twanging noise that wasn't in tune as Gunn leant on it,  
  
"Who you calling a meringue?" he asked glaring a Lorne. The green demon put his hands up in mock surrender,  
  
"I would help you sweet potatoes but I'm more of the singing and dancing type of demon. Less of the lifting and carrying and rescuing of fair maidens. I'm more Barry Manalo and less James Bond." Gunn sighed before picking up the piano again.  
  
"Come on Angel man. You're supposed to be fitter than me." Angel grunted as he lifted the piano, glaring at Gunn,  
  
"Eternal life has its strains. I think I should work out more though. I'm really not at fit as I used to be. I think I've got flab."  
  
"Quite yapping you two and maybe you'd be fit enough to move my piano. Isn't that right Cordelia honey?" Lorne asked over his shoulder.  
  
"He's got puppy fat." Cordelia said wearily, too tired for using tact, not that she did it the first place. Angel dropped the piano causing Gunn to stumbled and fall, the piano clattering again,  
  
"I don't do I?" he said looking down at himself. Lorne rolled his eyes,  
  
"Uh - Angel cakes?" he asked softly,  
  
"You might want to be more interested in your friend than your nonexistent puppy fat." He said indicating Gunn who was struggling to hold the piano up.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"Mr. Pryce. How are we feeling?" the doctor asked coming into the room and picking up Wesley's chart,  
  
"A little light headed no doubt?" Wesley nodded at the doctor,  
  
"A little."  
  
"Well I don't see any reason for you to stay here. You seem stable, just make sure you drink plenty of fluids over the next few days, help replace what you've lost." The doctor said putting the chart back on the end of the bed,  
  
"Is there anyone who can pick you up?" Wesley thought for a moment and shook his head. Everyone would be asleep by now, even Angel. He didn't want to trouble them.  
  
"I'll get a taxi." He said pulling the covers back,  
  
"Okay then. Your clothes are in a bag in the night stand, and there's just a few forms to fill in before you go." The doctor said turning to go,  
  
"Thank you." Wesley said smiling faintly as he pulled them out of the cupboard and went to the bathroom to get dressed.  
  
Wesley stood in front of the mirror for a long while, staring at his pale reflection, gaunt and almost ghost like. He tilted his neck slightly, pulling back the gauze pad to inspect the bite marks, as if making sure it had really happened. He still couldn't grasp the fact that his father was dead. Twice. It also led to the question of what had become of his mother. He realized that she was probably dead too. His eyes turned downwards as he felt tears pricking at his eyes, as he lent on the sink, his shirt half buttoned. He could feel his bare feet sticking to the linoleum floor but he didn't move. The light above the mirror flickered and he pulled away from the basin as it hurt his eyes.  
  
Even though he had spent so many tormented years of his childhood in his fathers grasp, taking everything that he got pleasure from away he would still miss him. He had spent so many years trying to make his father proud and he realized he had nothing to prove to the man. But that did not mean he wouldn't miss him any less.  
  
He missed his mother's cooking. He missed the small country cottage that they owned. Even though he did not have the run of the fields at the back very often he enjoyed the view. No one had ever corrected what his father had done, and Wesley had never known any better. He was told that was what happened to ever boy who was bad and as a naïve child he had believed it.  
  
He missed being watched over though. Even though his parents never showed him their love and affection for him they had always been there; watching out for him, doing things because they thought it was for the best. He had people who really cared and loved him now, but he felt as if no one was watching him. He was on his own, the solitude of his flat like the solitary confines of his cupboard.  
  
Wesley angrily pushed his tears away as he continued to button up his shirt and finish getting dressed. He wasn't alone though. He had family; he had Angel, Cordelia and Gunn. They were there for him. He had Angel Investigations. He had things going for him he had never imagined. But there was a nagging voice at the back of his mind though,  
  
'You are alone though, aren't you Wesley?' Oddly, it sounded exactly like his father's.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"I'll drop off at the hotel Angel then I'll go see if they'll allow English home."  
  
"You should get some sleep Gunn." Angel said, watching the traffic light, seemingly stuck on red, through the blanket from the back of his convertible.  
  
"Yeah, sleep will come." He said as he shifted gear, and rounded the corner into the alley at the back of the Hyperion. He pulled up on the dark side and got out, painfully,  
  
"Man that piano was heavy." He said holding his ribs slightly,  
  
"Kinda digs in yah know?" he said glaring at Angel when he got out of the car. Angel frowned,  
  
"Sorry Gunn."  
  
"S'alright. Do yah want your car left here?" he asked slamming the door,  
  
"'Cause I was gonna take mine to pick up Wes."  
  
"Why don't you call the hospital first? Wes might have made his own way home." Gunn nodded as he followed Angel into the Hyperion, watching him smoke slightly in the suntrap that was the garden out back. He stepped into the hotel behind Angel and made his way to the desk picking up the phone. Angel cast the blanket on the sofa, removing his jacket,  
  
"Telephone directories under the desk. Unless Cordelia's -" he broke off as he opened the door to Wesley's office to hang his coat up,  
  
"Wesley, what are you doing here?" Angel watched the pale form of Wesley behind the desk, his nose buried in a book. Gunn put the phone back on the hook as he heard Angel, coming into the office behind him.  
  
"English? I said I would pick yah up man. Yah didn't need to get a cab."  
  
"I thought I could be useful here. Lots of paperwork to do and also research." He said shifting the papers about on his desk randomly,  
  
"Wes there's nothing to research and Cordelia's filed everything." Angel said moving to the chair on the other side of the desk and sitting down. Cordelia had told him it wasn't his business, but she was at home in bed, and he couldn't sit by and watch Wesley suffer like this.  
  
"Wesley," he paused clasping his hands, not sure of how to start,  
  
"Do you want to talk about anything?" he asked, looking the ex-watcher in the eye. Wesley shook his head, looking down at his papers in front of him as they started to blur,  
  
"Not really." He mumbled under his breath,  
  
"Wes, my father was never really the best of role models, always down on me." He stopped realizing this was going the opposite way in which he intended it to,  
  
"But your father Wes, he had no reason to do those things to you. You're a good man Wes, and we just want to let you know I'm there for you." He said, still watching Wesley intently.  
  
"We all are man." Gunn chimed in. Wesley pushed the seat back from the desk and stood up going to the coat rack,  
  
"If you need me you can get me on my cell phone." He said taking his jacket from the stand and leaving the Hyperion. Angel stood up both Gunn and him watching Wesley go.  
  
"Well that went well." Angel said sarcastically,  
  
"Maybe I should -" Angel held up a hand,  
  
"He knows we're here." 


	8. Bottom of the Glass

Chapter 8 ~ The Bottom of the Glass  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"When I counted up my demons, saw there was one for everyday.  
  
With the good ones on my shoulder I drove the other ones away.  
  
So if you ever feel neglected, if you think that all is lost.  
  
I'll be counting up my demons, hoping everything's not lost."  
  
"Everything's Not Lost" Coldplay  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"You did what?" Cordelia asked as she stood up from in front of her computer, glaring at Angel over the counter. Gunn moved away, making himself look busy by opening the weapons cabinet and playing with one of the swords.  
  
"Angel I told you to leave it."  
  
"Cordy he was here and he looked down, and really not all -"  
  
"Guys are not supposed to do this sort of stuff." She said grabbing her coat,  
  
"Cordelia where are you going?"  
  
"To talk to Wesley before he tries to get himself killed again."  
  
Gunn shifted away from the weapons cabinet, closing the doors behind him, a nervous look on his face,  
  
"What?" Cordelia asked, shifting her gaze between the both of them,  
  
"We don't know where he is. He said he was goin' out for a walk."  
  
Cordelia glared at Gunn for a moment, feeling that he was as much a part of this as Angel was. She turned back to the desk and picked up the phone,  
  
"I'll try his cell then." She dialled the number, watching Angel as she waited for a reply,  
  
"Angel -"  
  
"I know." He said nodding and turning away, feeling guilty, to go get his coat,  
  
"We'll take my car."  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Wesley removed the cell phone from his pocket, checking to see who was calling. As the light flashed the letters A.I. displayed themselves on his screen. He watched it for a moment,  
  
"Hey buddy you gonna answer that or not? 'Cause you're spoiling the show." A demon asked to his right, but Wesley didn't reply. He just turned the phone off causing it to desist it's ringing, before stuffing it back in his jeans pocket. He picked up his glass again as the final notes of the song played and the members of Caritas burst into applause. He watched the drink swirling in the glass before taking a sip of it.  
  
"You know that drink isn't the way crumpets." Lorne said as he sat at the bar next to Wesley,  
  
"You won't find your answers in the bottom of that glass or the next one. Just like you didn't find it in the other ten or so that you've downed since you came in here." He said picking his own drink up off the bar as Wesley threw the contents of his glass down his throat,  
  
"I'm not looking for answers."  
  
"Solutions then. It's the same thing. The point is I don't need to read you muffin to tell you you're trying to drown your problems." He paused as Wesley ordered another drink. Lorne swirled the umbrella around in his seabreeze, listening to the Bak'esh demon singing a rather mind numbing version of Roberta Flacks "Killing me softly" on stage.  
  
"You don't have to sing a song either pumpkin. 'Cause I can tell you without a doubt that the solution to your problems just walked in the door." Lorne got off his stool, patting the slightly drunk Wesley on the arm,  
  
"And if you're going to continue drinking I recommend the tequila." He gave a low whistle,  
  
"Strong stuff."  
  
Lorne wandered away to sit at a table with a Skalig demon as someone took up the vacated stool at the bar. Wesley didn't even bother to turn to see who it was as he picked up the drink the bartended had just set down,  
  
"Put it on the tab." He mumbled under his breath.  
  
"Tab? Wes how long have you been here?" he shrugged, not surprised by the voice that spoke so suddenly,  
  
"You know drink isn't the way."  
  
"Yes, thank you Cordelia. I've already had that speech."  
  
"Good! Maybe you'll take it on board then!" Wesley took another sip of his drink and Cordelia sighed,  
  
"Look, Wes. Angel and Gunn aren't very good at the talking and listening and knowing the right thing to say, but that doesn't mean they don't care." She said as she watched his pale, blank face,  
  
"But I'm here and I'll listen." She up her hands,  
  
"I promise not to butt in."  
  
The only reaction she got was the raising of the glass to his lips. She sighed, feeling defeated,  
  
"Wesley it's not good to keep it bottled up inside. All those years and you still haven't told anyone. You can't go on like this Wesley. You lost your father last night and even if you didn't get on it still must have affected you. It still must have hurt." She paused, watching him down the half full glass of some gross brown liquid that she didn't want to know the name of.  
  
"Please Wesley?" Wesley placed the glass back down and turned to look at Cordelia. There was a lost look on his face like he was a small, frightened child, ready to burst into tears at any moment.  
  
"He kept me under the stairs." His eyes reverted to the empty glass cupped between his hands after his small slurred sentence. He ordered a whiskey, Cordelia not saying anything, before he continued,  
  
"We lived in the country but I wasn't allowed to play outside. It was for my own good. I was kept under the stairs in the summer when I was bad, and went to boarding school the rest of the year. There wasn't much more fun than home. I was a target for bullies everywhere I went; old and young, bug and small, they found me." He paused to take the large whiskey from the waiter,  
  
"I never came home for Christmas and only got one present if I was lucky, and even then it was usually stolen. I tried my best at school to make my father proud. I got the best grades, excelled in all my subjects, but that wasn't good enough for my father. Nothing was good enough for my father." He sipped at the whiskey for a moment. Cordelia didn't move or say anything; for once in her life she had been stunned into silence,  
  
"He wasn't even impressed when I was assigned to not just one, but two slayers. And when I was fired -" he broke off, taking another sip of whiskey,  
  
"Since I joined you and Angel he's been even less than impressed, but I knew he couldn't touch me over here. I called him last week to wish him a happy birthday, told him what was happening and now I suppose I was wrong when I assumed he couldn't touch me." He swirled the glass for a moment, looking down at it, wishing he could juts fall into it and drown. His words were already slurring quite badly,  
  
"Wesley I'm so sorry. You - no one should have to go through that. But he's gone now." Wesley threw back the last of the whiskey; the third drink Cordelia had seen him with since coming in.  
  
"He'll still haunt me. He'll always be there, not even you can do a bloody thing about that." Cordelia knew she couldn't, but she couldn't let Wesley drink himself into oblivion. She wouldn't see a perfectly good and decent man, those of which were so hard to come by these days, go off the deep end head first. She watched him down a shot of tequila before slamming her hand on top of the glass before the bartender could refill it,  
  
"No! I can't! I can stop you from drinking. I take you home. I can look after you like any friend would, any family would. But I can't stop him from haunting you. You have to do that yourself. And you can do that Wesley." She caught sight of Angel and Gunn entering the club and made a hand gesture to keep them back.  
  
"We'll be there for you, always. But you have to leave the past where it belongs; in the past. He's gone Wesley and I don't need a vision to know that he was proud of you, even if he never said it. We're all proud of you. But please, don't let your father's delusions of your happiness spoil your real happiness." She watched as he slowly let go of the glass. She wasn't even sure he had taken it in he had consumed so much alcohol, but there seemed to be a hint of realization in his eyes.  
  
"Let us take you home?" she asked softly, placing a hand over his as Gunn and Angel came up behind him. He slipped from the stool, so drunk that he threatened to collapse on the floor. Gunn was there though, wrapping Wesley's arm over his shoulders and wrapping his own arm round Wesley's waist as he tried not to breathe in the smell of alcohol,  
  
"Come on English. Lets get you home."  
  
Angel and Cordy watched Gunn and Wesley leave the club as Lorne came up to them,  
  
"Did you solve his problems peach pie?" Cordelia looked up at the Host,  
  
"I hope so." She said as she turned to look at Angel,  
  
"We'll take him home."  
  
Angel nodded as he watched Cordelia disappear out the door too,  
  
"The man's messed up Angel cakes." Lorne said sitting back down at the bar, gesturing for Angel to join him.  
  
"He came in here looking for answers that no one could provide but himself."  
  
"I know Wesley's been through a lot, but he won't tell any of us and like Cordy says its not our place to ask. I'm just not sure he'll get over what's happened."  
  
"Give it time sweet potato. Things will sort themselves out and he'll make his own path."  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Gunn let Wesley collapse onto the bed, his eyes closing immediately. Cordelia pulled his shoes off and removed his glasses as Gunn put the throw from the end of the bed over him,  
  
"Man he's gonna have one hell of a hangover."  
  
"Let's just hope he remembers what I said to him." Cordelia said as she closed the door to Wesley's bedroom behind them,  
  
"What did yah say to him?" Cordelia frowned as she cast a glance round the messy apartment, changing the subject.  
  
"Want to grab a broom?" Gunn sighed, getting the point. Wesley would tell when he was ready to and Cordelia wasn't going to diverge the details,  
  
"I ain't takin' the kitchen. Not after you mentionin' rats. They give me the willies. With their beady eyes and their teeth and tails." He shuddered,  
  
"You can do the kitchen." He said heading across the other side of the living room, starting to put books away,  
  
"You're a meringue." She said under her breath.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
It was almost two o'clock in the afternoon before Wesley's eyes opened blearily. He pulled himself from his bed, holding his head in his hands for a moment as he suddenly remembered yesterday. He padded down the corridor and into the kitchen, not even noticing the tidiness of his place. He found a glass of water and a box of aspirin on the kitchen work surface with a note attached to it. It read,  
  
'Thought you might need these and also didn't find any rats under the fridge but I wouldn't open it for a few days. Luv Cor and Gunn.' He smiled at the note as he swallowed the pills, drinking deeply into the glass. He stared at the phone for a moment as he continued to drink, deciding whether or not to call. He didn't, instead slouching back down the corridor to the bathroom and a cold shower.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"Afternoon." Cordelia jumped. Startled by the sudden voice that had seemed to appear out of nowhere, almost knocking over her cup of cold coffee. She stood up going to the counter, smiling at the freshly shaven Wesley standing on the other side,  
  
"How's your head?"  
  
"Sore." He confessed,  
  
"But thank you." She frowned, confused slightly. Maybe he had remembered or maybe he was thanking her for the note, or for cleaning his apartment or -  
  
"For what?"  
  
"For everything you said last night." Cordelia flashed him a smile.  
  
"You know it's true right?" he nodded as the door to the Hyperion opened and Gunn came through holding two pizza boxes,  
  
"Sorry it took so long but - Hey English!" he said as he set the pizza boxes down on the desk,  
  
"Want some pizza? 'Cause your fridge was pretty bare when we left it last night."  
  
"No thank you. Not all that hungry." Angel came down the stairs and into the lobby,  
  
"Can I smell pizza?" he asked as Cordelia started to stuff her face with a slice,  
  
"God can you like smell that all the way up in your room?" Angel shifted into the group, standing on the other side of Wesley.  
  
"Wesley. How are you feeling?"  
  
"Things seem clearer this morning. Even if I do think my head might explode." Gunn smiled slightly,  
  
"Getting drunk will do that to yah." He said before tucking into the pizza, offering Wesley a slice. He looked at it dubiously before taking it as Angel reached across him.  
  
"You got chillies?" he asked excitedly,  
  
"I thought you were on a diet?" Cordelia teased,  
  
"Hey man, leave the food for the people who actually need it." Gunn said slapping his hand away and lifting the pizza box. Angel frowned as he stared at Gunn, before trying to grab the pizza box back. They started to play fight, trying to get the box from one another as Wesley and Cordelia looked on laughing.  
  
"Give!"  
  
"No way man!"  
  
Cordelia had been right. He had family, even if he had lost his real one, and he wasn't going to let his father spoil his happiness anytime soon,  
  
"Wes catch!"  
  
This was home indefinitely.  
  
****************************~*THE END*~**************************** 


End file.
